Randy Arozarena is a show. In the ninth inning, when Giovanny Gallegos hit Puerto Rican Kike Hernández with an 86-mile slider to center plate and sealed Mexico’s berth to the World Classic semifinals for the first time in history, the Cuban threw his glove to the sky and he ran to the center of the diamond to celebrate along with the other Aztec patrolmen, all with their arms crossed and defiant eyes.
That gesture has been the distinctive mark that Randy has imposed on the Mexican ninth, transformed into the giant killer of the Classic. Already in the first round they defeated the United States, defending champions, now they left the Puerto Ricans, finalists of 2013 and 2017, on the way, and on Monday they go to Japan, the only team that has climbed to the podium in all the editions of the fight.
Arozarena is to blame for this brilliant result. The Cuban has been the inspiration for the group led by Benji Gil, totally devoted to the electric staging of the outfielder, a phenomenon with the bat and with the glove. This Friday, for example, he reached base three times (two tickets and one hit) against the Puerto Rican pitcher, scored the Mexican tying run in the seventh inning, and in the eighth he saved his team with legendary fielding in left field.
“It was a big hit, but I never gave up. It’s something I’ve worked on a lot in the offseason, not give up on any connection. This is better than all the home runs I’ve hit, even the ones I hit in the World Series. This catch for me was the best,” Randy told FOX of his incredible drive into left field to eat up a long connection from Emmanuel Rivera.
At that time, Mexico had a minimal advantage, but Puerto Rico had tied the first base with one out. Rivera entered the batter’s box in front of reliever Jake Sánchez and hit a long 387-foot drive that Arozarena caught after a terrific run and a jumper off the fences.
The play froze the Puerto Rican hopes of recovering the advantage they had lost in the seventh chapter, when Isaac Paredes and Luis Urías drove in three scores and turned the game around.
Paredes came with the bases loaded and two outs off reliever Jorge Lopez and singled on a loose connection to left, which served to drive in Austin Barnes and Randy Arozarena for the tie. On the next turn, Urías got a single to right and put the final score at 5-4.
As a curious detail, the exit speed of these hits was 73.2 and 62.6 miles, respectively, that is, we did not see good contacts, but we did see very well placed hits that buried the Puerto Rican options. Baseball in its purest form!
For Mexico it was an epic game, as they came out of ostracism after Puerto Rico scored four in the opening episode for consecutive home runs by Javy Báez and Eddie Rosario against the star lefty Julio Urías. The Aztecs erased that deficit with a decisive contribution from Isaac Paredes, who homered and drove in three of the five Tricolor scores.
“There was a lot of game to go, we couldn’t give up in such an important game. Nothing was guaranteed until the ninth inning,” Randy Arozarena said of the impressive Mexican recovery, which went from having less than a 20% chance of victory at the start of the seventh inning to consummating the second biggest comeback in the history of the Clásicos.
Crucial in the victory was the work of relievers Javier Assad, Jo Jo Romero, Jake Sánchez and Giovanny Gallegos, who retired five scoreless innings, with only four hits allowed and five strikeouts, enough to complete Mexico’s first direct ticket to the club. of the big four of the World Classic.
Their next rival, in the semifinals, will be Japan, the most successful team in the history of the tournament. “I don’t know what can happen with Japan, but I’m always going to give myself 200% on the field,” Arozarena warned about the next exam, which he hopes to pass to get a little closer to the top.
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